Part 1 | “Is There Really ONE WAY to God?”
Sent by God.
Fed by Ravens and Widows.
Standing for righteousness.
Hated by his world.
These are the phrases that describe the life of Elijah. Yet James says “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” James 5:17
Can modern-day Christians really learn something from this ancient wild prophet? His story seems out of the realm of possibility and yet he speaks to us in our day louder than ever.
The journey of following Christ will be filled with constant temptations, hostile opinions, and devastating occasions. But God’s still small voice will always lead you home. The key is to learn to listen.
From 1 Kings 17
The theme of Elijah’s day: = all are basically the
“One of the biggest mistakes humans make is to believe there’s only one way. Actually, there are many diverse paths leading to God.” -Oprah Winfrey
Four Problems with Pluralism:
1. Pluralism is – assuming all people are the .
2. Pluralism is – concluding it alone is the of .
3. Pluralism is – not considering the among .
4. Pluralism is – this is about .
“Elijah” = “the LORD is GOD”
3 Answers to a Pluralistic Age:
1. The Lord is over the .
📖 1 Kings 17:1 (ESV) Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the LORD came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
📖 Genesis 1:1 (ESV) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
📖 Psalm 24:1 (ESV) The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
📖 Isaiah 66:2 (ESV) My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the LORD, have spoken! “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.
📖 John 1:3 (ESV) All things were made through (Jesus), and without (Jesus) was not any thing made that was made.
📖 1 Kings 17:5-6 (ESV) So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
3 Answers to a Pluralistic Age:
2. The Lord is of the .
📖 1 Kings 17:7-9 (ESV) And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
📖 Luke 4:25 (ESV) I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
📖 Luke 4:28 (ESV) When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.
📖 1 Kings 17:12 (ESV) And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
📖 1 Kings 17:13 (ESV) And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.
📖 1 Kings 17:14 (ESV) For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’ ”
📖 1 Kings 17:15 (ESV) And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days
3 Answers to a Pluralistic Age:
3. The Lord is our in the face of .
📖 1 Kings 17:17-18 (ESV) After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”
📖 1 Kings 17:19-20 (ESV) And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?”
📖 1 Kings 17:21-23 (ESV) Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22 And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”
📖 1 Kings 17:24 (ESV) And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”
📖 Revelation 1:17-18 (ESV) “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hell.
Sermon in a Sentence:
Jesus is the to the Father, and He’s available to who receives Him.
Notes Section:
